Ancient Egyptian scripts

Hieratic script

The Hieratic script was invented and developed more or less at the same time as the hieroglyphic script and was used in parallel with it for everyday purposes such as keeping records and accounts and writing letters. It was used until the 26th Dynasty, though by that time, it was only used for religious texts, while the Demotic script was used for most other purposes.

Notable features

A simplified and abbreviated form of the hieroglyphic script in which the people, animals and object depicted are no longer easily recognisable
Structurally the same as the hieroglyphic script
Written almost exclusively from right to left in horizontal lines and mainly in ink on papyrus
Written in a number of different styles such as "business hand" and the more elaborate "book hand"
There were a number of regional variations, one of which, a northern version, developed into the Demotic script by the 25th Dynasty

Hieratic glyphs and the hieroglyphs they evolved from

Hieratic glyphs representing single consonants and the hieroglyphs from which they evolved

Hieratic determinatives and the hieroglyphs they evolved from

Hieratic determinatives and the hieroglyphs from which they evolved

Sample of Egyptian written in the Hieratic script

Links

Information about the Hieratic script
http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/writing/hieratic.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieratic

Basic Lessons in Hieratic
http://home.prcn.org/sfryer/Hieratic/

Other Ancient Egyptian scripts

Hieroglyphs, Hieratic, Demotic, Coptic

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